Louis van Gaal’s side dominated the first half of an entertaining semi-final and deservedly led through former Toffee Marouane Fellaini – only for Everton to come back after the break, Romelu Lukaku seeing his penalty saved before Chris Smalling’s own-goal levelled the tie.
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The defender’s blushes were spared, however, when Anthony Martial slotted a stoppage-time victor and sealed United’s first FA Cup final appearance since 2007.
Blind and his team-mates will now return for the showpiece final on May 21 but the Dutchman felt United made heavy weather of a contest they could have put to bed after a half of dominance.
The England defender said: “He’s our main attacking threat and he’s been brilliant all season”.
Martinez admitted that United were the better team in the first half but praised the pressure they applied on United in the second period. Every season we are developing and we are reaching certain signs that I feel can please our fans and bring them the silverware they deserve.
But van Gaal doesn’t see Martial as a natural striker just yet, explaining after the game how he considers the 20-year-old a wide man right now. Did anybody hear of Marcus Rashford last season?
United haven’t managed to win the FA Cup since 2004 so it would be awesome if the club could end that run this season.
‘The FA Cup is the FA Cup regardless of everything else, ‘ Carrick said.
But much like the rest of the questions he answered bluntly, saying: “It is not for me to judge – it is for the board of Manchester United”. These two teams have won the old trophy a combined 16 times, and appeared in the Last Four on a staggering 56 occasions.
“It was a bit of a insane game; we were very good in the first half and probably should have been further in front really”.
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“I think it’s a great opportunity for us. That’s something we have to build on, so we can’t get carried away because we’ve had a good run of wins and a big one against Everton”. I think tomorrow when you see the other semi-final, the pressure is very high for every player because every player wants to play in the final, so it is always in my eyes the same.
